Web Access Grows Increasingly Mobile

Thu., Mar. 8, 2018

About 16 percent of all U.S. Internet users — or nearly 45 million people — will access the web exclusively via a mobile device this year, with mobile-only audiences expected to reach 55.7 million — or 17.2 percent of the entire U.S. population — by 2022, according to recent Internet user figures released by digital market research company eMarketer.

About 83 percent of U.S. Internet users now use mobile devices to go online, according to eMarketer’s report, though desktops and laptops still maintain a slight lead, as 84 percent of Internet users are expected to access the web this year via a desktop and laptop computer.

The report mentions that smartphone adoption has now actually slowed in the U.S., as most Americans who want a mobile device already own one, and as a result, mobile growth is now expected to be less than two percent this year.

The one demographic where mobile adoption will see growth consists of seniors ages 65 and older, who are expected to be responsible for double-digit gains in smartphone use this year.

eMarketer estimates that about 85 percent of the entire U.S. population — or nearly 280 million people — will go online at least once a month this year.